Demon's lexicon review

[dr_fumbles_mcstupid]

First of all you are all probably thinking “Hey she did not win an advanced readers copy!” and you would be right. My Brother monkeyfaceman won it for me. He gave it to me two days ago and said happy birthday. I was puzzled because my birthday was February 24^th. But when I opened the package I died. My brother and my best friend entered the contest together to get me the book that I have been raving about for so long. In conclusion I have the best brother ever! XD And now that I have actually read the book my already exasperated friends who hear me spouting the wonders of Sarah Rees Brennan will never get me to shut up.

 

I will write a more extensive review when the book comes out. Also my writing classes are influencing my writing. I felt compelled to turn what was the ratings of a crazed fangirl into what is hopefully a semi coherent review.

 

 

 

This book is about two brothers, the emotionally stunted Nick who only cares about fighting and his brother, and Alan who cares for everyone too much. The two brothers live on the run from demon summoning magicians. The magicians are after them because their mother stole a powerful charm from her ex and he really wants it back. One day Mae and Jamie West show up on their doorstep asking for help because Jamie has been marked by a demon. Alan manages to drag Nick into helping the two and this leads them into an adventure of banter, action, magic and discovery.

 

This book is amazing. I picked it up and from the very first page I was hooked. Each character springs vividly to life and all of them are interesting and unique. Usually in a book there is at least one character who you don’t like or a character who feels like a plot device, but while reading this book I did not get that feeling from any of the characters. I love Nick, Jamie, Alan, Mae, and all the other characters that I am forbidden to mention so much. Even the characters who were only there for one page felt so real that they could be a person you could bump into on the street corner. I genuinely felt for each character in this book. Each character has their own motives and feeling and ways of thinking. All the detail built into the characters combined with Sarah Rees Brennan’s writing style creates characters that jump right off the page and into your heart.

 

Not only are Brennan’s characters memorable, but their interactions are too. So many books create amazing characters but they don’t interact well. Brennan has interesting characters that play off each other spectacularly. I love the interactions between Nick and Jamie; they always bring a smile to my face. And the interaction between Nick and Alan warms and breaks my heart in equal measures.

 

Brennan does an amazing job of meshing a world of fantasy with the ‘real world’ seamlessly. The transitions between the ‘real world’ and the fantasy world are smooth and natural. Even though the magical world feels like part of our world it still has its own culture and heritage. Brennan paints a beautiful picture of a world just beyond our reach and makes us believe that this world really exists just hidden from our view.

 

I was smiling and laughing my way through at least half of the book. Brennan has a unique way of using humor and drama in a unique way forming a magnificent team. The humor has you laughing right up until the point that the drama lands a sucker punch to your gut. This technique works very well because Instead of taking away from the seriousness of a situation, the humor actually amplifies the drama to a level that takes your breath away. You were laughing just a few seconds before, but the drama that follows hits you even harder because of it. 

 

The plot twists in the book were interesting and totally unexpected. I was constantly forming theories in my head only to have them shattered when a new piece of information was revealed. I never expected what came next and was blown away every time. The book kept me guessing up until the very end.

 

In conclusion this book not only lived up to my sky high expectations, but it went way beyond them. I am left hungry for more and can not wait until the next book in the series. As Winning_smiles so eloquently put it “Is it next June yet?”

 

 

P.S. I would personally like to thank Sarah. My brother never read anything, he hated reading. But then I started talking about Sarah’s LJ posts, short stories, Movie reviews, and fanfictions. After hearing about the amazing marmalade fish and Zombie boyfriend he decided to read her short story “An old fashioned Unicorn’s guide to Courtship.” He enjoyed it so much he asked me to give him some other books that I enjoyed! He has now read Ender’s game, Doppleganger, Howl’s moving castle, and is starting the Harry Potter series. My brother is now discovering the joys of reading and it is all thanks to you! 

 

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